The home of photojournalism.

8 Magazine

22 Mar 2009

January 2013: Foto8 ‘s magazine production has closed down.

We wish you well and look forward to new collaborations together as Foto8 directs its efforts towards developing an educational programme and working on individual projects for exhibitons and publication when possible.

Hasta La Victoria Siempre!

Published biannually, 8 Magazine looks beneath the surface and shines a spotlight on the issues that shape our world.

Over a period of ten years in publication, 8 magazine took the traditional format of words and pictures to a new level. For each issue, we chose a theme to explore, usually a contemporary issue that requires investigating and understanding, and seek the best ways to bring the subject to light. With its unique mix of reportage, commentary, interviews and essays, 8 magazine grew to occupy a unique place in the publishing sphere, offering world class analysis through essays, photographic and written.

In the Oil issue, we wanted to look at the environmental devastation caused by oil, the wealth it creates, even the architecture it shapes.

We featured Rena Effendi’s beautiful photographic essay on how oil has shaped her home city, Baku, Christopher Anderson’s urgent take how the petrodollar influences life in Venezuela, from his book Captiolio, and Kael Alford’s intimate look at what the catastrophic BP oil spill meant for the residents of Louisiana.

In words, we brought in the expertise of Guardian environment editor John Vidal, an interview with the preeminent photographer of oil’s legacy in the Niger Delta, Ed Kashi, and a fascinating account of how oil fuelled Russia’s oligarchy by New York Times writer Peter Maas.

Related stories:

The Oil Issue slideshow

Kael Alford: Bottom of ‘da Boot

Lianne Milton: Downstream

Jan-Joseph Stok: Blood Mobiles

Sophie Gerrard: Coal Cycle Wallahs

Telegraph21: Crude

Other related articles:

Wikileaks: Shell and Nigeria

For the Islam issue, we created a report section on the Arab Spring, featuring work by Ivor Prickett from Egypt, Mads Nissen from Libya and Christian Als from Algeria, contextualized by an essay by Robert Fisk, explaining the extent of religious influence in these uprisings.

As well as an exclusive interview with Magnum photographer Abbas, an Iranian living in Paris, who has been photographing militant Islam since 1987, we showcased work by Simon Norfolk on Al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, by Munem Wasif on observing Islam in Bangladesh, and a very personal journey, the Hajj by Newsha Tavakolian.

To broaden the debate, we commissioned leading Muslim scholar Ziauddin Sardar to write on what multiculturalism has come to mean in the UK. Paul Hayward, chief sports writer of the Observer, wrote on the lure of Islam for black American sports stars from Ali onwards. And Aamer Hussein contributed an exquisitely paced short story, touching on the experience of exile for a Pakistani expat living in London.